Topic: The Manhattan Project
The discovery of nuclear fission in 1938 by European scientists Lise Meitner, Otto Hahn, and Fritz Strassmann marked the beginning of a scientific revolution, not just opening up new frontiers in physics and energy but also setting in motion a chain of events leading to unprecedented escalations in the potential for global catastrophe. Two years later, with the start of World War II, the world was thrust into the nuclear age, a tragic convergence of scientific discovery, military ambition, and human folly. What began as a celebration in the physics community became, within a decade, a force capable of reshaping the world. As such, the atomic bombings of August 1945 marked the beginning of a new era. But to understand how this scientific breakthrough rapidly transformed into a weapon of unimaginable power, one must first examine the Manhattan Project, the covert U.S.-led initiative that harnessed fission to create the first atomic bombs.
European emigrated scientists, including Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner, Edward Teller, and Albert Einstein, approached the American government with a letter to address their growing fear that Nazi Germany, under Adolf Hitler, would develop atomic weapons first. German scientists, such as Werner Heisenberg and the aforementioned Otto Hahn, were making great strides in nuclear research, and coupled with the scientists’ concerns, this reality prompted the U.S. to begin its own projects with their citizen and immigrant scientists. Thus, the American government began recruiting.
Though the recruitment of top scientists was driven by necessity, the political context of the time also brought ethical and ideological tensions to the fore. Many of the scientists involved in the project, especially those with European backgrounds, were deeply concerned about the consequences of developing such a destructive weapon. Moreover, their recruitment occurred at a time of growing fear about the global spread of fascist and communist regimes like Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The government was not only focused on the scientific credentials of their recruits, but also the extent to which they could be trusted to work on an American covert project. American officials, who viewed the Soviet Union as a threat to U.S. political and economic interests and feared that communist sympathizers might infiltrate sensitive government projects, took measures accordingly to ensure that scientists were loyal only to their cause. And as they recruited scientists for what would become the Manhattan Project, they also began to allocate funds for the purpose of nuclear research; on December 6, 1941 the Office of Scientific Research and Development was created under the oversight of Vannevar Bush. But with the bombing of Pearl Harbor only a day later, and the United States entrance into World War II the following day, research was transferred under the oversight of the US Army Corps of Engineers. In the summer of 1942, Colonel Leslie R. Groves was assigned as Commander of the Manhattan Engineer District; soon after his appointment, Groves began construction at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington on uranium and plutonium plants to begin production. Groves, known among his colleagues as abrasive but shrewd, aggressively assumed his position as commander and pushed for the project to have a higher government priority rating to procure resources faster.
Groves soon met a physicist named J. Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer, a rising physicist who led a research project on fast neutron calculations and was a leading candidate to direct Project Y, which would later become Los Alamos, was notorious for his past associations with the Community Party (CPUSA), although he denied ever becoming a Communist. His security file collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also contained numerous reports of his past left-wing activities; his connection with the party was the main barrier that prevented him from joining the Manhattan Project, and many were surprised and dismayed when Groves suggested Oppenheimer to lead the project as scientific director. When the two met in October, Groves described him as a “real genius,” and took Oppenheimer’s suggestion to base Project Y at Los Alamos. But the War Department refused to clear Oppenheimer and the Military Policy Committee rejected Groves’s nomination for the position. However, within a few weeks, the committee decided, upon Groves’s urging and the approval of Vannevar Bush, to reconsider and allow Oppenheimer to lead Project Y, realizing that there were few willing and fit for the role. With this reorganization and consolidation under the Army Corps of Engineers, Colonel Groves, and Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project officially began on August 13, 1942.
European emigrated scientists, including Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner, Edward Teller, and Albert Einstein, approached the American government with a letter to address their growing fear that Nazi Germany, under Adolf Hitler, would develop atomic weapons first. German scientists, such as Werner Heisenberg and the aforementioned Otto Hahn, were making great strides in nuclear research, and coupled with the scientists’ concerns, this reality prompted the U.S. to begin its own projects with their citizen and immigrant scientists. Thus, the American government began recruiting.
Though the recruitment of top scientists was driven by necessity, the political context of the time also brought ethical and ideological tensions to the fore. Many of the scientists involved in the project, especially those with European backgrounds, were deeply concerned about the consequences of developing such a destructive weapon. Moreover, their recruitment occurred at a time of growing fear about the global spread of fascist and communist regimes like Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The government was not only focused on the scientific credentials of their recruits, but also the extent to which they could be trusted to work on an American covert project. American officials, who viewed the Soviet Union as a threat to U.S. political and economic interests and feared that communist sympathizers might infiltrate sensitive government projects, took measures accordingly to ensure that scientists were loyal only to their cause. And as they recruited scientists for what would become the Manhattan Project, they also began to allocate funds for the purpose of nuclear research; on December 6, 1941 the Office of Scientific Research and Development was created under the oversight of Vannevar Bush. But with the bombing of Pearl Harbor only a day later, and the United States entrance into World War II the following day, research was transferred under the oversight of the US Army Corps of Engineers. In the summer of 1942, Colonel Leslie R. Groves was assigned as Commander of the Manhattan Engineer District; soon after his appointment, Groves began construction at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington on uranium and plutonium plants to begin production. Groves, known among his colleagues as abrasive but shrewd, aggressively assumed his position as commander and pushed for the project to have a higher government priority rating to procure resources faster.
Groves soon met a physicist named J. Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer, a rising physicist who led a research project on fast neutron calculations and was a leading candidate to direct Project Y, which would later become Los Alamos, was notorious for his past associations with the Community Party (CPUSA), although he denied ever becoming a Communist. His security file collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also contained numerous reports of his past left-wing activities; his connection with the party was the main barrier that prevented him from joining the Manhattan Project, and many were surprised and dismayed when Groves suggested Oppenheimer to lead the project as scientific director. When the two met in October, Groves described him as a “real genius,” and took Oppenheimer’s suggestion to base Project Y at Los Alamos. But the War Department refused to clear Oppenheimer and the Military Policy Committee rejected Groves’s nomination for the position. However, within a few weeks, the committee decided, upon Groves’s urging and the approval of Vannevar Bush, to reconsider and allow Oppenheimer to lead Project Y, realizing that there were few willing and fit for the role. With this reorganization and consolidation under the Army Corps of Engineers, Colonel Groves, and Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project officially began on August 13, 1942.
Committee Dais
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Hi, Marvin Shim here. I hail from Southern California, and I’m currently a junior at Exeter. I have been a part of Model U.N. since I entered high school, and have had the opportunity to participate as a delegate and a vice-chair in past conferences. Outside of MUN, I write for my school’s newspaper and magazine, participate in our classics society, and play for the golf team in the spring. I am excited to be a part of my third PEAMUN, and to serve as your vice-chair for our specialized committee on the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project and its later implications have always intrigued me, and I look forward to seeing if history can truly be rewritten or if we will reach the same consensus as before.
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